Advice on Plane Tickets

[Ilmater]

My fiance and I will be taking our honeymoon overseas (Scotland and Germany) in September, and I was wondering if any of you have any tips on how to get the best prices on the tickets. I'm looking on the major deal sites (Expedia, Priceline, etc.), and the prices don't seem to vary much.

Should I buy now vs. wait?
Can I get a break if ticket prices decrease by September?
Which site is best to go to?
What day of the week is best to fly out on?
Is one airline much better than another?

I have never booked a flight for myself before (always gone with someone else that planned it, or flew for work which doesn't require any shopping around), so I really don't know much about it. Thanks for any help you can give me.

 

[EagleKeeper]

If you are doing it for a honeymoon, use a travel agent that knows Europe.

they should be able to get you a pakage deal.

The cost of their commission wil be well worth the added value.

 

[summit]

use costco travel services or if you wanna do this alone kayak or sidestep.com both work fairly well.

 

[dullard]

Kayak often gives the best prices without having to search everywhere. It'll link you to Expedia, Orbitz, or whatever webstite has the best deal (that is, it checks most websites for you). But, once you are done with Kayak, don't just buy the cheapest flight. You can often save even more by going directly to the cheapest airline and buying the same tickets. Why? Since then you don't pay a website transaction fee.

Tickets are usually cheapest 2-3 months out. But with tickets so cheap now with lower fuel prices and airlines desperate to fill their seats in a recession, that may not be true in the near future.

Tickets are repriced on Tuesday morning, and by Tuesday evening other airlines have had a chance to beat those prices yet few other people will have purchased them yet. So, you have your best chance at a good price when you buy on a Tuesday evening.

Fly out on days that no one else will want to travel. Travellers usually don't want to fly on Tuesday/Wednesday. Tuesday/Wednesday flights screw up the work week for business travellers and make vacations shorter for tourists. So those flying days are often give the cheapest ticket prices.

Airlines to me aren't significantly different. Sure, you might get better entertainment options or better food options on one airline, but it really isn't a big deal. They will all get you to your destination-which is the real importance. Once you start flying a lot, then it might matter which airline you choose since you'll want frequent flyer miles all on the same airline.

 

[ElFenix]

farecast.live.com

 

[Aharami]

Dullard, I'm looking to buy two tickets from EWR to SXM for 6/27 - 7/4. So far the prices have been stuck at $509 for nonstop. Im wondering if I should buy now or wait a bit since it is still far away. Farecast doesnt have any predictions for this flight

 

[ravana]

kayak + yapta is what I usually do.

If the airline you are travelling offers a refund, yapta will alert you when the price drops to a point where you will actually get money back after the change fee.

 

[dullard]

Originally posted by: Aharami
Dullard, I'm looking to buy two tickets from EWR to SXM for 6/27 - 7/4. So far the prices have been stuck at $509 for nonstop. Im wondering if I should buy now or wait a bit since it is still far away. Farecast doesnt have any predictions for this flight

It is anybody's guess as to what will happen. $509 is pretty damn good for international flights on a holiday in the summer. You may get lower prices by waiting a month, but it probably won't be much lower. Or, prices could rise (possibly significantly). I think the risk for paying more by waiting is greater than the risk for paying more by buying now. Of course, I don't have a crystal ball.

Whatever you do, once you buy, don't ever look at the prices again. You'll only get buyer's remorse.

 

[Ilmater]

Originally posted by: ElFenix
farecast.live.com

HOLY SHIT! THIS MIGHT SAVE ME MORE THAN $2,000!!!!! EL FENIX, YOU ARE THE MAN!!!

I've searched every travel site out there, and they all said it was going to be about $2k per person to fly me and my then-wife to Scotland and Germany, and this site is quoting me - AFTER FEES, mind you - $1,900 for both of us. I can do a lot of things with $2,000!!!

 

[Farang]

If you have trouble finding good prices try flying into London/Shannon/Dublin/Amsterdam and using Ryan Air or EasyJet from there.

 

[2Xtreme21]

Originally posted by: Farang
If you have trouble finding good prices try flying into London/Shannon/Dublin/Amsterdam and using Ryan Air or EasyJet from there.

Dublin is by far the cheapest to fly in to (check out Aer Lingus), but you have to watch with RyanAir. The deals are unbelievable and shouldn't be missed, but they sometimes fly to out-of-the-way airports. For example, I flew into "Paris" via RyanAir and ended up at an airport some 90 minutes by bus away. It's not a huge deal, but since there are so many low-cost carriers in Europe, you may want to check around before you jump on the penny airfare deals.